While agriculturists are urging the farmers not to cultivate the three-decade-old BRRI-28 paddy from the next season, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) is also developing new high-yield varieties with resistance to diseases and adverse climate conditions.
BRRI-101 is one of the newly-developed hybrid paddies which yields 7.76-8.5 tons per hectare -- more than 1.75-2.5 tons than BRRI-28.
This variety is resistant to bacterial blight. So this new breed does not have much disease. The rice is long and thin and delicious to eat.
Nasru Molla from Gobra Union of Gopalganj Sadar Upazila is among the first five farmers to grow this paddy. He is saving the rice seed for next year.
“It is premium quality paddy. The price of this paddy is high in the market,” he said, adding that other farmers in the vicinity have shown great interest in cultivating this type of rice.
Altaf Hossain, a farmer in the same area, said that the yield of this paddy is similar to that of hybrid rice, but the cost of cultivation is lower. This rice will quickly become popular, he hoped.
BRRI Gopalganj Regional Office Head and Senior Scientific Officer Dr Mohammad Zahidul Islam said that in the current Boro season, BRRI-101 paddy was planted in five demonstration plots in Gopalganj for the first time. The harvest showed that the paddy yielded 7.76-8.5 tons per hectare.
“Farmers have saved the seeds for the following year. They are showing interest in cultivating this variety next year,” he added.
It is a climate-smart variety. There has been great success in the first five trials at the field level. If the cultivation of this paddy is expanded across the country, the income of the farmers will increase, said another scientific officer, Srijan Chandra Das.
Abdul Quader Sardar, deputy director of Gopalganj Khambarari of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), hoped that this paddy will play a key role in ensuring food security. He stressed the need for encouraging farmers to cultivate this rice.
